How an iPad dug up from the Thames solved museum thieves’ murder plot
Buy Now An error occurred. Buy Now An error occurred. Book Novotel Hotel How an iPad dug up from the Thames solved museum thieves’ murder plot Banzai Japan Music Video A Ming vase stolen from a Swiss museum. A shooting at a comedian’s house in Woodford, east London. The robbery of a luxury apartment in Sevenoaks, Kent. These seemingly unconnected events were all part of a web of international organised crime that police untangled after a six-year-long investigation. A key piece of evidence – an iPad, found under an inch of sand on the foreshore of the River Thames just downstream from the O2 Arena. Book Novotel Hotel Its discovery was pivotal to the investigation that has led to three people being found guilty at the Old Bailey of the near-assassination of one of Britain’s most notorious armed robbers. When found by a police officer with a metal detector on a cold November morning last year, the iPad was found caked in mud having been underwater for more than five years. Forensics were able to clean it and open the Sim tray – which still contained a pink Vodafone Sim card. Call data that was subsequently salvaged provided damning evidence on three men – Louis Ahearne, Stewart Ahearne and Daniel Kelly – who were all also involved in a heist at a museum in Switzerland a month earlier. “I’ve questioned this a lot,” Det Supt Matthew Webb ponders. “Is it calamitous blunders tripping them up or was it just they were so blasé they wouldn’t get caught?” Banzai Japan Music Video A ‘meticulously planned’ assassination plot The Ahearne brothers and Kelly first caught the attention of police after gunshots pierced the silence of a late summer evening in an affluent Woodford area on 11 July 2019. Six bullets tore through a glass conservatory at a luxury property owned by comedian Russell Kane that had been rented out to Paul Allen. One severed one of Allen’s fingers, the other went through his throat and became lodged in his spinal cord, leaving him struggling to breathe and bleeding profusely. “He’s been shot, he’s been shot!” Allen’s partner, Jade Bovington, screamed. As she frantically called an ambulance, neighbours and a private security guard heard the cries and rushed to render first aid. One eyewitness described seeing an unidentified man vault a low wall, run between some bushes and get straight into a waiting vehicle which immediately sped off. To this day, Allen relies on a wheelchair, paralysed below his upper chest. Allen gained notoriety as one of the ringleaders of what remains Britain’s biggest ever armed robbery. In 2006, Allen was part of a balaclava-wearing gang toting guns including an AK-47 assault rifle who threatened to kill staff at the Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent. They stole £53m in Bank of England cash notes – leaving behind £154m which would not fit into their lorry. Allen fled to Morocco four days later, but was arrested in Rabat alongside friend and fellow robber Lee Murray, who remains in jail in nearby Tiflet. In January 2008, Allen was extradited to the UK and subsequently sentenced to 18 years in prison. Allen was released in 2016 and moved back to his roots in south-east London. But he relocated to Woodford with his partner and two younger children after a gunman opened fire at him and his pregnant daughter in the doorway of their Woolwich home in September 2018. Ten months later, Allen almost died after those two bullets hit him as he stood in the kitchen of his Woodford haven. Prosecutors argued the Ahearnes and Kelly were equally culpable in the plot to murder Allen – which involved a hired car, surveillance and unregistered pay-as-you-go phones. “This was a meticulously researched and planned assassination attempt by a team of men well versed in the level of criminality to pull it off,” prosecutor Michael Shaw KC said. In discovering how the three knew where to find Allen, police would uncover their criminality stretched into mainland Europe. The Geneva job and the Mayfair hotel sting Just one month before the shooting, the Ahearne brothers and Kelly stood outside the Museum of Far Eastern Art in Geneva equipped with a sledgehammer, angle grinders and crowbars. Within seconds of forcing their way through the front door, they shattered glass casings housing 14th Century Chinese Ming Dynasty antiques. Three items were seized – a rare pomegranate vase; a doucai-style wine cup and a porcelain bowl – and had a combined insured value of £2.8m. In their hurry to flee, Stewart scraped his stomach against the sides of the hole the gang had made in the front wooden door – leaving traces of his DNA. He also hired the getaway car, a Renault Koleos from Avis at Geneva Airport. Louis was caught on CCTV filming the inside and outside of the museum the day before the raid. Within days of returning to south-east London with the stolen goods, the trio set about attempting to dispose of the items they had pinched. The brothers flew to Hong Kong with Kelly as they tried to sell one of the stolen items at an auction house. The auction house tipped off police in London, who were able to send undercover officers posing as art dealers to catch some other gang members in a sting operation as two of them tried to sell another plundered item which had been concealed in a JD Sports bag. During a seven-week trial at the Old Bailey, prosecutors argued that international burglary proved the Ahearnes and Kelly were “at the top end” of criminality. But little did police know while pursuing the stolen antiquities, the three would leave behind near-enough similar clues to give away their presence in the Woodford shooting. The hire car and the Oasis purchase In the hours after the shooting, the crime scene in Woodford was forensically examined. Six bullet casings fired from a Glock self-loading handgun were found, as were scuff marks on the
Money pledged to clean London’s ‘damaged’ rivers
Buy Now An error occurred. Buy Now An error occurred. Book Novotel Hotel Money pledged to clean London’s ‘damaged’ rivers Banzai Japan Music Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPElmgQJGBo Plans to clean up London’s rivers have been given support with the announcement of more than £1.8bn investment from Thames Water, City Hall and Transport for London (TfL). It follows Sir Sadiq Khan’s recently announced plans to “make rivers in London swimmable within 10 years”. Around £1.8bn from Thames Water has been promised to tackle 26 sewage overflows on the Rivers Roding, Wandle, Lee and Brent, despite the water company facing financial crises. Television naturalist Steve Backshall told the BBC: “Thames Water has been the absolute pariah, public enemy number one when it comes to anything to do with sewage, but they are here, pledging actual money. It’s a huge sign of hope.” Book Novotel Hotel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJsGZL-zb54 Despite the announcement of money, Thames Water refused to speak to the BBC during an event to publicise the new investment. When asked if the £1.8bn from the water company would ever actually materialise, the Mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan said: “We’ve had commitments from them that they’ve put that money aside so they can do this job. “I think it’s important Thames Water is responsible for some of the problems and cleaning up the mess as well. “We are a city that for decades has seen damage and neglect of the River Thames, and the other 41 rivers and tributaries in London. “We want Londoners to be able to access them and enjoy them, but also we’ve got to recognise our biodiversity and habitats need the rivers to be clean.” The Mayor has also pledged £7.15m from City Hall and TfL, to be used to prevent road runoff pollution into the rivers. The money will also be used for rewilding and nature projects. David Mooney, chief executive of London Wildlife Trust, said: “For too long, our rivers have been treated like open sewers, and this roundtable presents a crucial opportunity to change that.” Banzai Japan Music Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3syHHGzkF_s In February, Ofwat, the water regulator, announced it was investigating Thames Water after it admitted it will not complete more than 100 environmental schemes funded by customers. The projects included upgrades to sewage treatment works and reducing wastewater spillages. The regulator will consider whether the water firm has breached its licence. In December the water firm defended executive bonuses as the firm called for a hike in customer bills to ensure its survival. Bills will increase by around £17 for customers from 1 April. Although Thames Water has promised £1.8bn towards improving the rivers, it simultaneously faces a huge financial crisis, and could enter special administration if it does not get court approval for a restructuring plan. It is in about £16bn of debt and needs £3.3bn over the next five years to continue operating. In a statement released via City Hall, Chris Weston, chief executive of Thames Water, said: “Like our customers, we care deeply about our rivers. “Our sewage works upgrades, the Lee Tunnel and Thames Tideway Tunnel are already protecting the tidal Thames and reducing sewage discharges by 95%. Mr Weston said an additional £20m fund had been launched for environment and community groups who work with the river networks. Book Novotel Hotel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR8YYeb4PMk Banzai Japan Social Media Fumi Fujisaki Idol Riko Ueno Idol Rino Ibusuki Idol Yunagi Nino Idol Shiori Fujisaki Idol Kana Ichinose Idol Hoshino Arice Idol Sasa Sasagawa Idol Kosaka Yuu Idol Tsukumo Aira Idol Maika Ando Idol Yuuki Mochimaru Idol